Thursday, March 7, 2019

Time is Money Part 3: Bubba Trubba (DuckTales Vol 3 Part 17) - 'Toon Reviews 25


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Time is Money Part 3: Bubba Trubba
After an unneeded detour, we’re back to focusing on the main plot of this arc.  Sadly, that plot seriously becomes weaker from here, mostly because of Bubba now being a main character.  This particular part shows why he’s better as a one-off. 
As a scrappy kid character with a less-than-ideal voice who has the best bonds with other kids, Bubba is already at a disadvantage of being a strong character.  He doesn’t even bring much good to the rest of the cast. The episode mostly features him causing trouble for everyone in another time period.  They do acknowledge that this is to be expected because he’s a cavekid from the past.  However, that should only encourage others not to be too hard on him, not accept that he exists to cause trouble.  Hardly anything is done to get Bubba to understand the time he’s landed in.  For these reasons, it’s concerning that he’s the center of an episode. 
Not only that, but Bubba is now considered a driving force for the conflict.  Flintheart Glomgold sees importance in him and sends the Beagle Boys to capture Bubba to go back in time and reclaim his diamond cave by destroying Scrooge’s marks.  Bubba’s presence in the present also has an effect on time itself.  Gyro says Scrooge messing with Prehistoric time changed history which could cause a huge hole in time.  Scrooge’s money suddenly flying out of his hand proves this statement is accurate.  Aside from a scrappy character mostly appealing to just kids causing all this, what we have here is an interesting direction for the time travel portion.  It becomes problematic, but that will be saved for a review of another part of the arc. 
Anyway, Scrooge has every right to be frustrated with Bubba and wanting to send him back to his right time.  From there, the episode becomes very routine.  Scrooge dumps Bubba in someone else’s care, Bubba causes trouble for them, but also foils the Beagle Boys’ attempts to capture him.  It’s a three strikes setup with little variation, priding itself on proving that Bubba is nothing but trouble in so many ways.  It becomes frustrating that Huey, Dewey, and Louie stay after school, Mrs. Beakley’s banned from her special club, and Launchpad gets in trouble at the museum because of Bubba. 
At least there are some standout moments in the strikes.  The boys’ moment with Bubba brings an exciting musical number in the middle of class, even if the music style dates it.  The first part of Mrs. Beakley’s moment with him brings the closest Bubba gets to learning to behave before he messes everything in her club up.  Also, every moment where Bubba outwits the Beagle Boys is hilarious. 
As for Scrooge, while his distain towards Bubba is understandable, there is a fun moment where he talks to a little version of himself about how he does like Bubba after all.  It’s a humorous personification of the concept of consciences.  Plus, while this single episode doesn’t have much good reasons for Scrooge to warm up to Bubba, there are at least some moments in the earlier parts to back up this claim.  Unfortunately, this change of heart is devalued when Bubba idiotically leads the Beagle Boys break into Scrooge’s money bin, paving the way for the next part. 
It’s hard to find appeal in an episode where everyone suffers because of one character.  While there are fun and good hearted moments, they’re far and few between Bubba’s destructive moments.  It may be beneficial for the arc’s story, but it still falls flat and mostly fails to make Bubba acceptable as a main character.
D+

The Ranking
  1. Once Upon a Dime
  2. Duck in the Iron Mask
  3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
  4. Spies in Their Eyes
  5. Nothing to Fear
  6. The Uncrashable Hindentanic
  7. Dime Enough for Luck
  8. Duck to the Future
  9. Launchpad’s First Crash
  10. Jungle Duck
  11. Ducky Horror Picture Show
  12. Time is Money Part 1: Marking Time
  13. Time is Money Part 2: The Duck Who Would Be King
  14. All Ducks on Deck
  15. Till Nephews Do Us Part
  16. The Status Seekers
  17. Time is Money Part 3: Bubba Trubba

The next DuckTales review looks into the trouble Scrooge and Bubba get into with the Beagle Boys in the money bin.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews from Hey Arnold is "Love and Cheese" and "Weighing Harold."
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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